First Amazon ‘Prime Air’ Flight Lands at Wilmington Airport

2016-08-12

Photo: Ted S. Warren/AP

The first “Prime Air” flight Atlas Air Worldwide flew for the e-commerce giant Amazon landed at Wilmington Air Park Wednesday, cementing what appears to be a growing relationship between Amazon and Southwestern Ohio.

It was the inaugural flight of the first of 20 B767-300 converted freighters provided to Amazon to support the expansion of Amazon’s e-commerce air cargo network, Atlas said in a statement Thursday.

Now two air carriers with ties to Wilmington — Atlas and Wilmington-based Air Transport Services Group — are flying for Amazon.

“The aircraft, the first in Amazon’s new ‘Prime Air’ livery and named ‘Amazon One,’ departed from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport yesterday morning and landed at the Wilmington Air Park Airport in Wilmington, Ohio,” Atlas’ statement says.

“We are excited to begin serving Amazon and its customers,” William Flynn, Atlas president and chief executive officer, said in his company’s announcement. “Our first flight represents a significant milestone.”

A spokeswoman for Atlas said no one was available for comment beyond the company’s release.

A spokeswoman for Amazon also confirmed that Atlas will fly for her company to and from Wilmington.

“There is still much to be decided in terms of our operations but we’re excited to be increasing capacity for customers through our plane leases,” said Amazon spokeswoman Amanda Ip in response to a question from the Dayton Daily News about how many flights Amazon intended to fly to and through Wilmington.